A Day Too Late
by Ghost0Silvers
Summary: A simple what if, Dean was pulled from Hell just a little too late, instead of a half broken man to be put back together, a demon was saved, but can a demon even be saved?
1. 1: Hell becomes Home

Summery: A simple what if, Dean was pulled from Hell just a little too late, instead of a half broken man to be put back together, a demon was saved, but can a demon even be saved?

Rating: According to the sites ratings this story will fall under M, suitable for ages 16 and up, due to mentions of torture, possible graphic scenes in torture, and cursing.

Pairings: As of yet nothing planned.

Author Notes: Clearly given I'm writing fanfiction I do not own Supernatural in any sense of the matter, consider this a blanket disclaimer please.

There was a symmetry to this, not a grace or a beauty, but a simplistic symmetry, like an artist forced to prove his worth, over and over again, sometimes he was given a new canvas, but it was all the same in the end, find the best way to break it down into art. Years of being in reversed positioning had given him so many pointers, the way to slide the blade _just so_, almost like trying to peel an orange to leave a single hallow peel, a single slip would undo all the careful work. The blade was his best tool, though so many tried to steer him towards other devices, but no, the blade felt right in his hand, he could undo anyone with sharp blade and equally cruel words. Time had no meaning here, was all a blur, all that matter was the Rack, was the canvas before him, that it was not his flesh being flayed, not his bones grinding into a splintering explosion as marrow was boiled, so time had no meaning, but that was a lie. In it's own way time meant everything, because slowly, in what was almost a crawl for anyone that watched, he grew to like it, the pain he dealt, the coldness of anger was what drove him forward instead of just avoidance, grew to love it.

It had been a tedious thing for his tormenters over the years, to break him down, leave his soul a quavering mess, cracked and broken to reflect his mind-state, but it wasn't truly until he picked up the blade that the darkness crept in. No matter how many times they had broken him down, it wasn't truly till he held the blade in his hand the first time, even with that hesitation before his first canvas, there was the first sputter of light dying in him. Still there was a spark of light so bright in his soul that clung, fought to remain, to stay with some sense of goodness that he had possessed in life, but it couldn't hold out for long, not in the depths of hell, and with every new victim under his blade it diminished just a bit more, dozens of souls graced his Rack, and each one saw less of a man to plead with, and more of a monster facing them. It was gleeful for the demons around, that had such an interest in him, the downfall of someone so great, _so righteous_, so spoken about and held in such reverence, and that had been a final point, a canvas that yelled his name, begged him with such a sense of familiarity. The human soul was just a nobody, name forgotten throughout the years, but they'd clung to ideals of heroes, and somehow he'd been in that light, there was a history between them, and she begged him, with all her worth, only to be answered with a wicked smile. When Bela Talbot broke was the day his soul was lost, and it was a victory that would be felt throughout all the levels of hell, Dean Winchester was a demon, through and through.

And then he was ignored, because what was the amusement in someone that already broke, he was just another faceless demon in a sea of demons, hell was full of human souls in various stages of breakdown, they'd either forever be a toy clinging to human ideals, be stuck in the middle, not human but not demon, or they'd transition, simple as that. Once their place was determined, well there was nothing special about them anymore, there were hundreds of thousands of souls, more even, that visited hell, one man didn't matter so much once they got what they wanted. So hell wasn't noticing when suddenly he was gone, snatched away and hidden, no one could even say they cared too much when there were no longer angels wandering about lost in their domain. They'd been like a dying nightlight in an abyss, their slight blemish only distressed the souls on the higher levels of hell, the ones that still had hope. As for the little demon that disappeared, well, he'd outlived his usefulness anyway, the angels could have him, let him be a poor example, a good man that traded himself to hell for the life of another, so easily broken, so quickly turned, and _then_ found by angels.


	2. 2: First Spark of Memory

Generally when one returned to some symbolism of life, their first action wasn't to seek out a bar, and yet here he was, shoulders hunched, in some backwater, hole in the wall bar that didn't even have the grace to have a cute waitress in sight. Not that it rightly mattered now, what waitress they had was almost propped against the bar, blood somehow still leaking from her lips and glassy eyes still staring at him in some sense of shock. Yeah, maybe he shouldn't be so at ease, instead Dean rotated his shoulders and hunkered farther into the crappy excuse of a chair, hands wrapped around the half empty beer bottle.

"What do you say..." Took him a moment to glance at the blood splattered name tag, and even then he rolled his eyes at the irony, "Angel? Does that make any damned sense to you, how do you have a bar without even a crappy jute box?" A scoff before he raised the beer to his lips, wasn't exactly like the waitress was going to answer.

There was a scuffle that drew his attention, some misplaced collage kid huddling with some far too large textbook, only one left alive, because for some reason the kid reminded him of someone, with innocent puppy eyes, and studying law in a fucking bar of all places. Well since he drew attention Dean looked at him expectantly, hey don't draw attention unless you got something to say, needed to be an unspoken rule or something.

"Uh... my phone has Pandora?" The words were put forth like an offering, and Dean grinned, kicked his boots off the bar to push himself in maybe not the most graceful standing position, it was weird though, being back in a body, flesh and bone, even if his heart wasn't exactly ticking. Rubbed a hand to his chest, somehow surprised, still, to not find his chest ravaged, torn open with ribs glinting in the light.

Silence was thick a moment, the kid looking paler, a hefty trick in the dusty lighting, but seemed to get the clue, finally, and scrambled to offer his phone up, almost threw it even. Didn't seem to matter, Dean caught the thing like it was nothing and thumbed through the applications, dried blood flaking off his fingers, attention diverted for the moment. When Metallica thrummed from the phone there was a chuckle, much better, and he turned away, head bobbing to the drum line, to head for the door, the beer was pretty crap-tastic, there was no pool table, and seriously, sitting still was starting to make him antsy.

Couldn't miss the thud of a body hitting the floor, "Such a girl." Who fainted when they weren't murdered, sissy, another reason to move on, let little collage boy get his beauty rest, hell he might have an exam or something.

With that Dean strolled from the only bar in town into the balmy night air, phone in hand and a grin on his lips, so far this whole thing wasn't too bad, being topside, couldn't bitch really. Didn't exactly know how it happened, or why, but hey it was good to be back, in his own meat suit, had that been a shocker, waking up in a grave, hadn't started him in a great mood for this trip, almost swore his knuckles still hurt. What the fuck had Sammy been thinking burying him, instead of the normal hunter's cremation?

Hold up, pause a moment, and green eyes narrowed, ignoring the flicker of a streetlight, the bulb whining, who in hellfires was Sammy, his sister? Did he had a kid sister somewhere he needed to go pop in on, well hey that was an idea, one he toyed with a second even, cuz hey wasn't much else going on. How the fuck did one look up something like that, had a last name to go off of, Winchester, name had always been stuck in his head, maybe the name of Sammy, and was possible they weren't even alive anymore, but that thought didn't sit right. They had to be alive, was the reasoning for the whole sh-bang, dying, hellhounds and then hell, bitch better still be alive, so yeah, this was a good idea, gave him something to go off of, a reason to dump this town.

Next second he was gone, only sign he'd been there was the smear of blood on the sidewalk and the silence of the bar that had been at his back, the street was peacefully empty, so there were no witnesses when the streetlight gave another few flickers before the bulb exploded. No one to see the oddity when the rest of the street lamps followed the same fate, or hear the migraine inducing sound pitch that had the bar windows exploding in a shower of glass.


	3. 3: Picnic Worthy Reunion

Research sucked ass. Really that was all that needed to be said, because he was not cut out for that shit, there was a reason for the existence of google, still he had his own way of smarts, that had nothing to do with hunting through paper trails. Vague ideas, that somehow seemed pretty solid, lead him to a simple conclusion, if Sammy was a hunter, and hey her brother up and died, then the best reaction would be anger, so hunting with a vengeance, right? Or that's what he'd do, he was pretty sure, if he still had the ghosting of care of this kid then surely they'd been close, revenge went along those lines, had to, otherwise he was going to have to go back to research.

Wasn't really hard to kick together a plan, get a whisper started in a town with a demon or two, that hey he was back bitches, so it was a rumor, give him a break, he wasn't going to go finding creepy ass monster to slaughter on the off chance his sibling _might_ show up. Was in his rumor spreading that Dean learned something that floored him a moment, even gave a honest 'huh', Sammy was a dude, and yeah demons hated his guts as much as he hated theirs, so this plan might just work. So, little brother, whatever, didn't matter much, this was just out of boredom anyway, curiosity killed the cat or something.

Still there was a little thrill when the call went out, Sam Winchester was caught, though backup wouldn't go unwelcome, apparently for a human he had some oomph to him, and with a grin Dean departed the two-bit hotel. Family reunion time, damned straight, and he wasn't referring to the demons, no that came clear when he strolled through the, busted down, door to the warehouse, who the fuck strolls into a trap, knowing it's a trap? Apparently his brother, so maybe the kid been smacked in the head too many times, needed his dear older brother to hold his hand when he crossed the street. But no love for demons, right, yeah that fact showed up right quick, might have been the splash of blood across the dirty cement, or the demon driving his fist into the human's gut, while said human was being restrained by _two_ other demons.

Wow, way to come off as pathetic, total count of four demons to hold one human, so maybe his brother wasn't such a sissy after all, more so when Dean stepped over the body in his path, his entrance so far unnoticed. Was easy to be missed, with the taunting and the threats, a curse thrown in for kicks, oh look-it a knife on the ground, runes along the blade drew his attention, and with a shrug he grabbed it, flipped it in his hand a moment, before settling the hilt better in his palm, felt comfortable, maybe too familiar. Then it was child's play to tap the moron doing the hitting on the shoulder, one of his buddies barely starting to get out a warning before the knife was through the demon's chin, up to the brain, so a very fun way to distract someone, but fast, no chance to play a little.

Wasn't just a distraction, from the pretty display of light, and suddenly Dean was liking this knife, hell yeah, dagger, spawn of demon asshats, was another 'huh' moment, completely ruined by the scramble of a fight starting afresh. Hazel eyes met his only a moment before he acted, with a coiled grace that came from practice and bar fights, and for now Sammy doesn't pause any longer, simply acts, and Dean stops paying attention. This is his first chance to pay some pain back on demons, and he's almost startled to realize he's itching for this fight, and there's an easy grin on his lips, along with a taunt, and the seconds blur.

Wasn't till he didn't have some black-eyed fucker in his face that he thinks to check on the human, _Sam_, and turned, cuz hey he did swipe the hunter's knife, unless the human had another trick up his sleeves Dean might have just caused his brother's death. Nope, he's alive, facing the last demon that had lured him into this trap, hand out and serious look of constipation on his face, like he hasn't gotten to go to the little boys room in weeks. That's not the kicker though, naa, the real trick is the demon spilling out of his meat-suit, and Dean can _feel_ the pull, and knows for a fact the demon's getting sent directly back to hell, no passing go, no collecting another suit to come back with a vengeance.

Then it's done, over with, the room silent, minus you know, the heavy breathing of the single human in the room, or if Dean listened hard enough the drops of blood running off the dagger still in his hand to hit the cement with wet plops. "Sup Sammy." Low draw of his words seem to still the room farther, and was that a heart skipping a beat? Wiped the blade on his ruined jeans, to get the worse of the blood off the metal, and honestly debated, for about a tenth of a second, handing over the knife, but fuck that, it's still the dagger-spawn of demons, and last he checked he fell in that demon category. So far earth-side was treating him better than the pit, so he was staying right where he was, so till he knew little Sam here wasn't going to flip a murderous lid, the dagger was staying with him.

"D-dean?" It's a whisper, and he was just an ass enough to raise a hand and rub his ear, the mocking movements clearly going with 'what? can't hear you', and the human clenches his teeth, "What the hell Dean, I mean- how are you- when did- you're in hell!"

Wow, his little brother has such a way with words, serious he's tempted to clap a moment, because that was Oscar worthy, or was it Grammy, really he got the two mixed up, finally decided to take pity on the kid, he's family after all. With a one-shouldered shrug he gave his reply like he was talking to a three year-old, "Yeah, I'm Dean, and I was... call it a vacation." A long stretch of never ending nightmare-ish vacation, it suited, but it had ended, because he was standing here, in front of his freakishly tall brother, he had to have drank a shit-load of milk as a kid.

The human, Sam, stepped forward, before catching himself, and it was kind of fun to watch the thoughts fly through his head at a million miles an hour, just as funny to watch him narrow his eyes in suspicion. "Who, and what, are you?" The question was bit out, and the chuckle that answered him most likely didn't help his shaking hands, that were balled up in fists like he was trying so hard to not punch the lights out of the _thing_ daring to look like his brother.

Yeah, decent fighter, not too bright, ah well they couldn't both of gotten the brains in the family, well kid wanted an answer, so an answer Dean would give, with eyes slipping into an never-ending black, "Apparently intro's are in order, I'm Dean Winchester, you're Sam Winchester, starting to come back to you yet Sammy?" Had tapped on his own chest with the dagger in reference to who was who, and swear it shocked him, left him frowning at it, and thus missing the flash of horror across the human's, _his brother's_, face.

The happy reintroduction was so rudely interrupted as a woman came skidding in, to Sam's side, almost tripping to land on her face, but the hunter had fast enough reflexes to hold out an arm to brace her, and a name slid through Dean's mind, making him loose his grin to really study the pair a moment. The human didn't take his eye's off the demon in front of him though, "You're a demon, not my brother." The accusation was harsh, sharp words that a lesser being would have worried over, might have flinched, but Dean didn't really consider himself a lesser being.

Ouch, really that cut, somewhere deep in his heart, if he cared to have a heart, but that was hardly something that mattered right now, as he glanced back to the dagger and then to the brunette that looked shell-shocked, oh yeah, pieces were clicking into place now. "Ruby, long time no see, you're still an ugly bitch." And why the fuck was Sammy hanging out with her, for that matter why was he stepping in front of her, as if to protect the bitch from him? Huh, well this wasn't the quaint family reunion he'd been expecting, not by a long shot.

Sam spoke right over him, "My brot- Dean would _never_ become a soulless freak." Was almost a shout, something he clung to with some half frayed strand of sanity, pity his world was about to crumble down around him.

Still, it almost hurt to see the broken look that was caused by very simple words from the demon he was protecting, like she needed saving, "Dean, didn't expect to see you so soon." Those were the words that sealed the deal, manner of speaking, that caused the sharp gasp of breath, the lost look in the human's eyes, and for a moment Dean wanted to punch her in the face for breaking his brother like that, so offhandedly. Never mind that she just spared him from being the direct person to cause that revelation of truth finally seeping into the hunter's head, he still had the urge to try, in vain, to protect his brother.


	4. 4: First Impressions Always Count

Author's Notes: Chapter dedicated to 19088m, for being the first, and thus far, only reviewer, and for their kind words.

Dean wondered how long it'd take the hunter to figure out what exactly happened to his Ipod, seriously though who ruined the classic beauty of a car like that with such a monstrosity? The car was fucking gorgeous, wouldn't surprise him if the impala had originally been his, because clearly Sam didn't know how to treat the car. Had almost considered demanding a ride, because they weren't having the conversation in an empty warehouse, instead had only tisked the shocked silence of the hunter, and his broken look, shot off something about catching up with him in a few hours, and taken off. So maybe Dean swung back by the car a moment, ran fingers across her dusty hood, and for a moment, just a moment, tried to remember, remember why he cared so much for the human, and almost as much for the car. After a few seconds though he seemed to realize what he was doing and with a growl finally took off for real, wouldn't do for a shell-shocked little brother to stumble out and see his demonic brother lamenting over a car.

He needed time to think, just as much as Sam did, because well what the fuck was he going to do now that he'd found his baby bro'? Wasn't like he exactly had a game plan or something, didn't have much of anything in fact, left him rather stranded, standing in the middle of no where, okay that was a lie, he was at another bar, with thoughts not shutting up in his head. He was still in the same damned town, killing time, and maybe it wasn't so much for his own stability as much as he couldn't deal with the hunter's lost look, kicked puppy dog eyes even, dude had stared at him like it was his fault and he caused the world to crash down. Alright maybe it was for his own state of mind too, he needed to figure out if he was honestly going to go about giving a damn, it was just another human, the world was full of them, but it was also his _brother_.

It was only that sentiment that lead to him calling Sam, with a gruff message to show his ass up before the waitress made moon eyes at him one more damned time and he felt the need to pluck her eyes from her skull. Didn't even wait for an answer before ending the call and slamming the phone on the sticky table, because he'd just called his brother, willingly, and told him where to show up. Would have been best to never see him again, but he just couldn't, so well... might as well keep tabs on him, right? Keep some demon from poking around with his family, some other demon like Ruby, oh yeah, that gave him something else to think on, something to do even.

Bitch couldn't have made it far out of town, if she wasn't still hanging around waiting for Sammy-boy, and he was right, took him all of five minutes to track her down, knock on the hotel door and wait for her to answer it. The shocked look made it all worth it, just like her nervous twitch of not opening the door all the way, "He's not here, just left." And she thought it a bright idea to try to close the door in his face, yeah, real bright, so of course he shoved the door open, barely catching her unbalanced and stepped into the room. Wasn't likely to be demon traps if a hunter was shacking up with a demon, which wow he didn't need that mental image, his kid brother and bitch-face, just no.

Strolled into the room like he owned it, barely glanced at the shitty wall paper, or the single bed, instead rolled his shoulders, loosening them, half guessing how this was going to go before he so much as spoke. "So, been busy shaping up Sam to be the perfect minion, huh?"

His answer came in the way of the wall, or more so his face meeting it, as she slammed him against it, and the telltale sound of a knife being drawn almost had him grinning, this was exactly what he needed to improve his mood. Maybe she was too use to over powering humans, or forgot he wasn't a hunter, not anymore, but the attack didn't stun him, only gave him all the answer he needed. Was ridiculously easy, an elbow to make her back up, just enough for him to turn, then he yanked her forward, put them nose to nose, for her to see the anger shinning in his eyes. "No one, _no-one_, fucks with my brother but me."

Maybe she hadn't been expecting to be yanked forward, after all in a fight distance was what most people aimed for, not a face to face talk, hunters weren't often wanting to face a demon so close, but Ruby recovered, even from the venom in his tone, and went to stab. The knife wasn't as good as her's, just a normal dagger, most likely picked up out of the impala, but it was the best she could get her hands on, he was just a fresh demon out of hell, she'd get him at the very least out of that body. That was all that would matter, if Dean didn't look like Dean she could still win Sam over.

So Dean took almost perverse pleasure when she lit up, a gasp escaping her lips, a stab for a stab, was even trade, pity for her he hadn't handed over the dagger, 'spawn of demons', she could view this as his returning it if she wanted though. Yanked the blade from between her ribs and watched with cynical eyes as she fell, "That includes black-eyed whores, but thanks for looking after him till I came back."

Then he allowed himself to hiss with displeasure and some pain, a hand going to his side to slow the blood-flow, well it wouldn't kill him, of course, and was pretty sure he got the standard demon package of healing. Still being stabbed wasn't high on his list of things to do again, and damn it, he was most likely late, so didn't even so much as kick her body before disappearing again. Would have liked to have used the overdone method of the bathroom, stroll in and poof away, come back like he'd just done any normal human thing. Fucking bar only had one bathroom though, and it'd been occupied, so he'd had to use the back ally to show back up in like some sort of creeper, straightened his jacket, figuring it'd cover the blood stain well enough, then went to meet up with his brother.

Seemed he _was_ going to have to hold the moron's hand, if he couldn't even make it through life without leaning on someone, it might as well be him, clearly he didn't think himself above spending time with demons after all. So mentally Dean had it settled, end of story, he was traveling with Sam, for the hunter's own protection of course, had nothing to do with any sense of family-bond, boredom, just boredom, and no Sam didn't have a say in it. Though really he didn't think, upon entering the bar again, and spotting Sam, that he'd have to go out of his way to save the human's neck _twice_ in one night, what type of hunter drew monsters to him?

His idiot of a brother was sitting at the table Dean had deserted, his cellphone still sitting on the table even, with something sitting across from him, really didn't matter what the something was, other than it was near Sam. Dean had to grind his teeth, couldn't even leave him alone for five minutes, not fine minutes, and maybe he had preventable storm-clouds over his head as he made his way to the table and put his hand on a trench-coat clad shoulder. Should have seen the warning in Sam's eyes, but he didn't, his sight was settled only on the _thing_, because it sure as hell wasn't human, wasn't demon either, but that didn't matter, it wasn't welcome here. At the contact the being moved, and startling blue eyes stared up at him, ever so calmly, expression stoney even, like there wasn't a pissed off demon glaring at him, like Dean wasn't thinking about stringing him throughout town piece by bloody piece.

"Hello Dean."


	5. 5: Heart Attacks

Author's Notes: Sorry for the wait, minecraft owns my life, I'm bit addicted, or a lot... meh. But, thank you krizzaaaa and Emma for the reviews, much love, and I scared one of my poor coworkers, apparently I squee like a small child when I get emails telling me someone followed or favorit'ed the story...

"So, Castiel huh?" For some reason he was more hung up on the name than the blunt fact he was talking to an angel, because well that part made much more sense, so dude was an angel, he was a demon so why not? Besides something seemed familiar, or something, about the guy. Otherwise it was just funny the way poor Sam was trying to not blow a gasket, or sputter nonsense, it was clear as day the guy was about the have a meltdown, too many things happening at once for him.

"That is correct."

Wow, was so going to have to work on the guy's….everything, couldn't he fidget, or something past sitting statue still and staring, yeah was going to have to work on that, once of course he figured out why there was an angel sitting in a bar talking to him. "Alright, well this is swell and all, but see me and my brother have some talking to do, before he has a freak out and draws attention, so just hold that thought alright?"

A blink was his reply, which hey, was something of a miracle in of its self, the guy could blink, next mystery to be solved, could angels get drunk? Dean honestly opened his mouth to ask; because following that would of course be the question of could demons get drunk. Imagine, an angel and demon bar hopping; the jokes alone would be worth it. Didn't get to ask his question, because he was off on timing a little, the human chose right then to snap, hands slammed on the table as suddenly he was on his feet, almost vibrating with emotion.

Maybe didn't help that Dean didn't glance at him, instead watched the angel, Castiel, who was still watching him, dude didn't even so much as flinch, was kind of creepy. Oh right, brother blabbering away in his ear, should tune into that if he was going with caring about the human.

"-don't just show back up! It's been six months, _six months _Dean!" And silence, oops, maybe he'd tuned out more of that rant than he had meant to, and offered a try at a grin to make up for it, which hey wasn't going to work most likely, but worth a try. Sam almost growled, looked ready to throw his hands in the air, instead turned and stalked off, bent on leaving, which left Dean to shrug at the angel, no clue how to solve this.

Now it was left to him to sigh, he should go deal with that, and stood, barely remembered to pull his jacket closer, shouldn't go flashing blood to the locals, if he was going to be playing human it would look bad to go back to leaving dead bodies in his wake. Course there was also the fact the angel was still sitting there, he might have a problem with a minor murdering spree too, whatever, angel guy could wait his turn. Family should come before freaky supernatural stuff, or so he was guessing, so needed to follow his brother out so they could have their heart to heart, a conversation that unfortunately didn't include ripping out hearts.

By the time Dean made it to the parking lot there was no sign of Sam, no sign of the car that he was pretty sure had been his, _was_ his now that he was back, well wasn't that just peachy. Fuck it, took him all of two seconds to find the hunter, because he was not being left behind like a grounded child, and they were going to have this talk without anyone running away like an overgrown idiot. So it was a fail on playing human, wasn't like the hunter was acting any calmer with him being low key, and acting never had been his strong point.

"I'm starting to think you wanted me to stay rotting in hell, which I gotta be truthful, is kind of rude Sammy, I come back and you've moved on, hanging out with Ruby of all people, hunting demons, and throwing hissy fits like a girl." Yeah that was so worth it, showing up in the passenger's seat of the impala, the car swung into oncoming traffic somewhere around the third word, and Dean just casually reached over and righted the wheel while the human made suffocating fish sounds. Couldn't let his baby get scratched after all, oh and oh course pretty sure his baby brother through the windshield would be bad too.

Brakes were slammed, and Sam managed to pull the car off the road without farthing trying to cause an accident, and Dean just waited calmly, like he hadn't just given his brother a heart attack. At some point the words were going to come pouring out, and he'd even try to pay attention this time, so watched as the human let out a shaky breath, his grip on the wheel was still white knuckled.

"That's just it, you're not you, you show up and throw stones at Ruby, but you're no different Dean. I mean how did you even get out?" Was pretty sure there was a name for the emotional turmoil in his voice, but honestly Dean didn't care to put a name to it, because he could understand, really he could. Poor guy had to bury his brother, after watching him get torn to shreds, and knowing the guy was going to hell, and technically it was all his fault, though Dean wasn't too sure when he remembered that detail.

There was the faintest of warnings, like the shifting of air, that had Dean turning to look in the backseat, and somehow wasn't surprised to find the angel sitting there, as casual as could be, well alright then, so they could both pop in randomly, good to know. Poor Sam was going to die young, heart attacks abound in his future.

"It was ordered."

"Jesus-fucking-Christ!" Oh yeah, heart attack, right there, and the sight of Sam pulling a gun to point it at an angel, one of the two had him chuckling, which only got a glare from Sammy and a head tilt from the angel. Was such a good thing he'd tracked down his brother, this was the most amusement he'd had in ages.

The angel didn't at all look worried about the unwavering gun pointed at his face, instead seemed to continue without so much as a pause, "That was blasphemy. It was ordered, and thus I went into hell and found Dean Winchester."

There was a memory tickling at him, that had him frowning, not caring that Sam finally seemed to realize what he was doing and lowered the gun, because surely it was just as blasphemous to be shoving guns in angel's faces. Dean didn't notice because things were clicking into place, along with a headache, "Hey, you're the glow-bug I had to save from the pit." Had thought it was all made up in his head, because honestly when he his top side and had to claw out of a coffin, well he hadn't exactly been the most stable of people.

The half shouted 'what!' from the only human in the car was ignored, besides the frown from the angel was more amusing, was the first expression he'd made, Dean almost wanted to clap for him, almost only because now it was all coming together. "I remember that, kinda, you showed up all bright and leaking, with all sorts of nasties trying to chew on you, waaaay out of place, and demanding that I follow you." Everything was still a giant jumble, but remembered his work being interrupted, remembered thinking that something so bright shouldn't be in the pit, had pissed him off, quickly at that.

"I was too late." Heavy words, and the angel looked away, and it wasn't till that action that Dean realized he'd been doing his staring thing again, "However, the abomination is incorrect, you are Dean Winchester." There was conviction on those words, belief that was thick and almost drowned out the second shout of 'what' that echoed through the car, and for a half a second Dean thought his brother was going to shoot the angel.

Instead he had to intercede, again for the safety of Sam, "Hey now, lets not go pissing off the glow-bug, and talk this out like rational adults." When did the demon become the calm one? Or was he still in hell and this was just some new fucked up version of it, still he settled eyes on the angel, meeting stony eyes with a cold glare. "And you, why the fuck are y-"

Later if someone asked Dean why he stopped midword he wouldn't give them an answer, but in that moment he was scared, terrified even, because there was something that settled in the car, heavy and thick, controlling. From the audible gasp from the human it wasn't just directed at him, and damn if it didn't look like angel-boy's eyes were glowing, or maybe that was the suddenly bolt of lightening that hit the ground not three feet from the car.

"You _will_ respect me, or I will burn every mote of taint from you till you are a quivering mess of mindless meat, and put you back together to see if you are better schooled at holding your tongue."

Add anger, or wrath, to emotions from an angel, and suddenly he could breath again, not that he strictly needed to, but still let out a shaky breath and glanced from the empty backseat to Sam, meeting his 'what the fuck' look and most likely echoing it right back at him. "Right, so, did'ya miss me just a little bit, enough to let that whole demon thing go?" And give the boy a cookie, he only nodded and started the engine, couldn't sit on the side of the road all night after all.


	6. 6: Feathers and Blood

Author Notes: Thank you krizzaaaa for being a repeat reviewer, it warms my fickle heart.

Sam was brooding, _still_ mind you, he'd done nothing but pout like a bitch the last two days, at least he hadn't argued about Dean driving, course that might have been because he didn't want to be scared into a car accident next time someone popped into the backseat. He'd brooded when he realized Dean didn't need to sleep, had pulled a bitch-face when a hunt was suggested, downright balked when it was hinted they were near Bobby's. It was grinding his nerves, seriously, what was the point of being stuck in a car with someone if they weren't really going anywhere, literally, Dean had just picked a direction and drove.

Hadn't thought about the idea that maybe the human in the car would like a hotel room till said human was passed out against the car door, muttering in his sleep, and then Dean just felt like an ass, because Sam was going to wake up with a hell of a neck ache, and pout even worse. Thus how their second night traveling together it came to be of the demon carrying a hunter into a motel room, which might have been fine and dandy, if no one had noticed.

Was Winchester luck though, and by that of course there was a demon rooming not two doors down, and had watched the scene like it was some weird sense of porn, had practically torn down the door to _skip _over to Dean. "You caught him." Hero worship, right there, and Dean could only frown at them, what the fuck, glanced at the sleeping sight of his brother, then back to the demon.

"Uh, no, picked him up, dude was starting to mess up the leather with drool." Was all for the car seats, of course, couldn't let the upholstery get fucked up, "You wanta get the door?" Since his hands were a little full, dude was like six foot something, and he was not, why again did he have a giant for a brother? Was also pretty sure he hadn't slept in like a week, because who slept through this, what a great hunter he was, being carted off by his demon brother, and another demon practically jizzing to help open the motel door.

"We have to call Lilith, uh, don't suppose you want to do that?" Little demon was puttering around as Dean dropped the human on the bed, did they have to get a chick with such a squeaky voice, "I mean she's just been in a mood, what with Ruby disappearing, I'm sure she'd like the good news."

Just because he popped out of hell not too long ago didn't mean he was born a few weeks ago, so hey this was a chance, and with flourish and a grin, he plopped down on the second bed, "Yeah, sure, no problem, but might wait till morning, heard Lilith was doing something important tonight." There was no need to rush, besides chick look like she was about to spill everything just on principle, course also looked like she wanted to pet Sam. In a bar setting Dean would be amused, for some reason this was just making him was to chop all her fingers off.

Demon chick was a nervous thing, didn't seem to know what to do with herself, it's self, whatever, "Oh, right, of course, the seal… did you hear the angels almost gave up the last one in a silver platter, feathers," There was a snort, the more she spoke, the calmer the demon became, to the point of bragging even, "Would have been faster if they had dropped the act and just fed-ex'd them instead of making Lilith show up herself in the pretense of a fight." Hand motions were thrown in, like that cleared everything up, and Dean really just wanted to shake her.

Seals and angels and feather and what the holy fuck was she going on about? Dean stood and made it a step, intent on getting answers, then suddenly demon chick left out a nearly silent scream and _fucking glowed_ before dropping to the floor. It took him a moment, because his eyes were glued on the nonsense that just happened, before looking up to lay eyes on the angel, trench coat and all, oh, smiting from the wrathful angel. Maybe there was some weight that threat.

"Hey Cas, nice of you to drop in, but could have handled that myself." Was just a demon, and really wasn't wanting to be just another demon to the angel, for such a geeky looking guy he could be damned scary.

There was silence, that seemed to be normal, maybe the angel was trying to make sense of what was just said, or maybe he was waiting for something, hell maybe he was trying to make Dean break into dance by staring at him. Apparently it was none of the above, because there was the sound of air movement, and Castiel was suddenly by the bed, hand on Sam's head like a mother checking a temperature.

"He is going through withdraws and will be unable to wake in time." Maybe Dean should be focusing on something other than wondering if angels ate glass for dinner, or gravel, gargled razors maybe. Like... like, answers, right, oh course, duh, caring, he was going the route of caring.

With a huff he sat back down, running fingers through his hair, nothing could be simple, "Withdraws from... my charming wit?" Meanwhile he was running through things, but his memories were still fuzzy, so really the kid could be living off everything in the world and he wouldn't remember that. Didn't seem right though, was too clean nosed, no something else was going on, could angels lie, huh, something to ponder a moment.

Cold blue eyes looked up, "Demon blood." Pulled back and for a moment looked like he wanted to wipe his hand off, hand sanitizer, maybe he needed to buy the angel some for next time he popped in, because of course there was going to be a next time.

That wasn't the key point right now, right now he had to wonder what the hell he meant, demon blood? And what was he doing, with knife suddenly in hand, Dean was back on his feet, not too sure what he was doing, trying to stop an angel from self mutilation. Moved far to slow, and angel-boy sliced through his arm like it was butter, dropped the knife and started finger painting, leaving Dean to blink. Huh, well this was... "The hotel is so gonna charge me for that." Nevermind the oddity of symbols being drawn on the walls in angel blood, or that he was just told his kid brother was apparently hooked on demon blood.

"They are looking for us." Castiel kept drawing across the whitewash walls, even flipped a picture out of the way, "The demon was using him to break the last seal as you were used to break the first," Was the first time the angel hesitated, and Dean only barely noticed as he scooped up the knife from the floor, keeping a critical eye on the blood flow from feathers.

"And who are 'they'?" Had to ask, because well there was a body on the floor that had pretty much said Lilith was looking for Sam, what other they was there?

The room fell silent, except for the steady breathing of the human and the splattering drops of blood, which was getting weird at all, nope, the angel was still, statue still, shoulders hunched, "My brother's are helping to start the apocalypse."


	7. 7: To Terms

Author Notes: Again, thank you krizzaaaa for be a continuous reason for me to keep writing with your reviews, just knowing someone is still reading and enjoying the chapters enough to say something means a lot to me. JadeAnime you are awesome, and it was a typo in chapter five, hopefully I fixed all the flips in his names, joy of writing most of the chapter at odd hours of the night, and chapter lengths are going to be completely random, sorry in advance? Smilewhenusaythat; I hated Ruby, with a passion, but yeah she ended up useless and thus didn't need to be around for long, as for switching POV... well that brings me to the honest author note instead of just praising my reviewers.

**This chapter from Sam's perspective, should be clear, hopefully it clear, maybe, but yeah, this is a nice head's up. **I wrote this chapter five times from the normal, aka following Dean, but just read like crap, then this randomly flowed out...

Castiel, angel of the Lord, and angel of Thursday was watching tv, which on it's own was slightly mind bending, but that wasn't the only thing that was still bothering him, past the killer headache of course, there was the question of why was there an angel sitting here at all? In this motel room, hanging around with someone he called 'an abomination' to wait for a demon to return from some mission of keeping another demon in line?

For that matter why was he sitting with an angel to wait for a demon to return?

Sam groaned at the thought swirling around his head and popped two little white pills, praying for them to kick in quickly, tried to not think about the fact a demon left them out for him, along with a glass of water. Never mind that demon was apparently his brother, that Dean was back from hell as a demon... that he hadn't been able to save him in time, hadn't found a way to pull Dean from hell.

"There was no possible way."

Words cut through his thoughts, and honestly he flinched and shot a look at the angel, the angel that was now studying him like just maybe Sam was the little ant that might do something astonishing, like fight a cricket for some grain and win. Wow, maybe he's been hit in the head recently, or had cracked and all this was in his mind, he was really sitting in a padded room with a 'hug-yourself' jacket.

"The demon named Ruby had you under her thrall; you would not have done anything she had not wished for."

He tried to pay attention, was harder than it should have been, couldn't ignore that his hands were shaking slightly, and carefully Sam sat the glass of water down just to give him a few moments of something to focus on. Ruby, she was a delicate topic, already had that argument with... Dean, that he'd killed her, the fact had been thrown in his face during the two day's stuck in the impala. Sam had tried to sneak away to call her, needed her to stop the itching in his bones, but hadn't thought about the demon that might be looking after him.

Had been casual, a blunt fact put forth, that he'd hunted her down, because no one was allowed to play with his little bother, had demanded to know what Sam had been thinking, hanging with Ruby of all people. Yeah that had caused an argument alright, because he didn't listen to himself, and Sam had demanded to know why he thought he had a say in matters, he was just as much as a demon.

Even now, looking back at that moment, Sam cringed at the look that had passed over Dean's face, wasn't just the flash of black eyes, or the pure rage in his tone when he said he had walk away, it was the half a second glimpse of _his brother_. Not the demon that was now Dean, but human Dean, who had always had Sam's best interest at heart, always.

Apparently that hadn't changed, and he just couldn't wrap his head around it, because it was a demon, that was his brother, no doubt there, when both Ruby and an angel claimed it true, but was still a _demon_. He had wanted his brother back, no matter what, but this was just crazy, why couldn't anyone else understand that? And now there were angels in on his, taking Dean's side? Oh, wait, no, there was just a single angel.

Took a breath and stopped staring at his hands, to look up at Castiel, this was his chance to find out why there was an angel on a demon's side, and maybe learn if he could trust said demon. "You said you raised him, why go through that trouble if you found him already turned?"An angel pulling a demon from the pit, just didn't sound right, nevermind that part of him was glad, because it was Dean in the end, and he was back, now if he could just talk his mind into fully accepting that.

Castiel honestly paused a moment, but to give him credit it was only a moment before answering in the same calmness as he handled everything else, and for a moment Sam wished he could be that unshakable.

"It was ordered for The Righteous Man to be saved, I was simply part of the platoon dispatched to search for him, it was a great honor to be chosen for the task, and thus we dived into hell with no hesitation. Hell is vast, in many layers and mazes, but I traveled on, certain that he would be found as my Father's will, as The Righteous Man he would stand out and thus be a beacon, I was as mistaken as I was correct."

Castiel looked away, and was his turn to stare at his hands folded in his lap, and Sam honestly hesitated a moment before speaking up, "Hey, it's alright, I mean you succeeded, right?" Not the greatest of words, but how does one console an angel exactly?

His head snapped up, and Sam jerked back, hadn't even been near him, with the angel still sitting in front of the tv, but the glare had him flinching, sure he was about to be zapped for saying the wrong thing. Death by angel had to be a better way to go then on a random hunt, right, better than death by ghost?

"No, I did not succeed, I found Dean Winchester and faltered at the sight of his blackened and twisted soul, _he_ fought off the hordes that sought to sink claws and teeth into my grace, instead of being the savior to a tortured but human soul, I was the one saved. Fifty years in hell and I was weak, exhausted, I would not have made the climb back up, did not have the will to return with news of failure, The Righteous Man was lost because _I was too late_."

Window panes shook, the tv whined and fell silent, Sam tried almost in vain to catch the glass of water that vibrated off the nightstand, and not look directly at the angel that was casting a light show across the walls, were those wing shadows? Like honest shadows and an angel's wings And for a moment Sam forgot himself and glanced, only to cringe from the blast of pain that seared through his eyes, not doing that again, his headache had almost been subsiding, and now he was pretty sure his head was going to explode.

Castiel had already looked different, not like monster different, but sometimes, when Sam stared too hard, or too long, he got an overlap, happened with demons too, and this episode was only making it harder to not see the 'otherness' of the angel. The effect had been faded, since coming to, and being told he'd been out for two days, with Ruby's blood mostly from his system that was to be expected, but was still pretty sure, if anyone else had been around, the wings wouldn't have been seen.

Was so going to pretend that hadn't happened, for the sanity of everyone involved, and with glass of water back in his hands, Sam shifted on the bed, awkward as hell, "Well, uh, thanks? I mean for finding him." Tapped fingers against the glass, ignoring the fracture that ran up it from the blast of power moments ago, was trying to move forward, not draw attention to the idea that maybe the angel needed to not be out letting his emotions, everything was safer when he remained coolly aloft.

Sam was still coming to terms, no denying that, it was embarrassing really, the number of times he'd blown up at the demon that was Dean, or about the fact he was back as a demon, but he was coming to terms, kinda. Still, Sam was glad in the end, that he was back, and not still in hell, being tortured… or torturing… and not continuing that thought.

"Why are you here though? I mean having an angel on our side is great, better than great, but you said it yourself, he isn't the same." Same hating asking that, but it didn't make sense, from what he'd gathered Castiel was hiding out from other angels, those he called brothers and sisters, and thus stuck in a dingy motel room, instead of off doing whatever it was angels did.

Silence stretched, and he was sure there would be no forthcoming answer, that Castiel was done with his sharing mood, but carefully, with measured movements, Sam watched him sigh and look towards the window. "Because I was too late to save him, but he saved me."

Was as simple as that, and it made sense, suddenly it clicked into place, and Sam nodded, because he had to do something, give some sort of response, yeah it made perfect sense. Dean had never been able to just let things go, leave someone innocent in danger, didn't matter if the someone was an angel, and the place was hell, while he was a demon, it wasn't him. Maybe his brother was a demon, damned, lost and broken, but he was Dean, and somehow he'd thought to help an angel out of hell just because he could.

Sam most likely wouldn't have noticed, if he hadn't been watching Castiel out of the corner of his eye, just in case the guy decided to explode with power again, but the angel jerked, a faint movement with widened eyes. Was all he needed to be on his feet, knife in hand, didn't even remember sitting the glass down, but it didn't matter, trained instincts, if the angel was acting like a shit storm was brewing quick then he was going to be prepared.

"Uriel found him."


End file.
